"If one meditates on the Medicine Buddha, one will
eventually attain
enlightenment, but in the meantime one will experience an increase in
healing
powers both for oneself and others and a decrease in physical and
mental
illness and suffering."

—Lama Tashi Namgyal

This page was created to invite your attention to
a set of
very special teachings on the Medicine Buddha. The teachings, on the Medicine
Buddha Sadhana and the Medicine Buddha Sutra,
were
given in 1999 by the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche at a
retreat
in Washington State, and published in two special issues of the
periodical
Shenpen
Ösel. The version published there includes not only an
edited English translation of the entire teachings, but also the
original
Tibetan texts that were the basis of Rinpoche's commentary, and English
translations of those texts.

Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche is widely revered
as a scholar
and teacher. H.H. Karmapa, XVI, head of the Kagyu lineage of
Tibetan
Buddhism, announced that Thrangu Rinpoche was the main scholar, the
most
learned person, of the Kagyu school. These particular teachings, on the
Medicine Buddha, are beautifully clear and at the same time profound.

Lama Tashi Namgyal, the editor,
comments: "... Thrangu
Rinpoche elucidates not only the details of this particular practice,
but
also many of the basic principles of tantric theory and practice in
general....
For anyone engaged in any vajrayana practice, this teaching is very
useful
in understanding the foundations of tantric practice, and a garden of
delights."
The Editor's "Introduction" supports and extends that general
usefulness
of these teachings, and also the understanding of those who may wish to
practice the Sadhana.

On this page, we present a few excerpts from
these teachings
so that readers can get a taste of their clarity, beauty and relevance
-- and perhaps be inspired to go to the Shenpen
Ösel Web site for the full document.

The first series, the teachings on the stages
of practice
of the Medicine Buddha Sadhana, were published in the
June,
2000, issue of Shenpen Ösel (Volume 4, Number 1).
The
second part of the series— Thrangu Rinpoche's teachings on the Medicine
Buddha Sutra— were published in Volume 4, Number 2.

Individual issues of Shenpen
Ösel are available at cost in a Print Edition and also
free in an Online Edition. The text of the Medicine Buddha sadhana is
not
yet available in the Online Edition.

Teachings on theMedicine
Buddha SadhanaA Practice That Is Extremely EffectiveIn the Removal of Sickness

In his "Introduction," the Editor, Lama Tashi
Namgyal, sets
the these teachings on the Medicine Buddha Sadhana in
the
context of Buddhist meditation practice, in general, beginning with the
statement "All of the Buddha's teachings can be subsumed under the two
categories of shamatha and vipashyana— calm abiding and insight."

After expanding and clarifying this general
insight, the
Editor extends it to the particular case of the Medicine Buddha
practice:

"If one meditates on the Medicine Buddha, one
will eventually
attain enlightenment, but in the meantime one will experience an
increase
in healing powers both for oneself and others and a decrease in
physical
and mental illness and suffering. Whether or not we have a very strong
motive to attain buddhahood, we all desire these sorts of relative
objectives,
so deity meditation provides tremendous incentive for the practice of
dharma.
And yet deity meditation is just another version of shamatha and
vipashyana.
When one meditates on the form, the attire and other attributes, the
entourage
and environment, and the internal mandala of a deity, and when one
recites
the deity’s mantra, one is practicing shamatha; and when one realizes
that
all that one is meditating on is mere empty appearance, one is
practicing
vipashyana. But because meditation on the deity and on the union of the
deity and one’s own root lama instantly connects one with the empty
clear
light nature— which is the essence of the deity, the guru, and the
lineage,
as well as being one’s own essential nature— the power of this form of
shamatha to purify the mind of the practitioner of the mental
obscurations
blocking his or her insight is immeasurablygreater than that of ordinary tranquillity
meditation
on mundane objects like the breath or a flower or a candle flame. And
since
the forms upon which one is meditating are mere mental fabrications,
their
emptiness is more immediately apparent than, say, the emptiness of
something
like the Jefferson Memorial or the Washington Monument.

This is all possible because of the special
quality of
the vajrayana, which takes enlightenment as the path, rather than
seeing
it merely as a goal. Through the three processes of abhisheka, which
ripens
the mental continuum; oral transmission, which supports one’s practice;
and the teachings, which liberate, one is connected directly to the
enlightened
state transmitted by the guru and the lineage. Thereafter, when one
practices
or merely brings to mind those teachings, one is instantly reconnected
with that compassionate primordial awareness, and this constant
reconnecting
then becomes one’s path, bringing with it the rapid purification of
mental
defilements and the rapid accumulation of merit and wisdom. The
recognition
of this connection is the uncovering of one’s own wisdom. If it goes
unrecognized,
it still exists in the practitioner’s mental continuum as a seed, which
will gradually ripen according to conditions."

Then the teachings by Thrangu Rinpoche begin
with an introduction
which discusses why someone might chose to do this practice— what the
point
is of doing the practice at all— and how it is possible for this
practice
to have the very wonderful results that it has.

Excerpts from Thrangu Rinpoche's
Introduction

"We might think that fundamentally we are
practicing the
Medicine Buddha in order to benefit our own bodies, whereas the
motivation
of bodhicitta is the wish to benefit all beings. But in fact there is
no
contradiction, because, in order to be effective in benefiting other
beings,
we need to accomplish an excellent samadhi or meditative absorption;
and
in order to accomplish that, together with the insight and realization
that it brings, we need to have a stable practice. In order to have a
stable
and profound practice, we need to be physically and mentally healthy or
comfortable, because by being comfortable in our body, and comfortable
in our mind, we will be free of obstacles to diligence in practice and
free of obstacles to the cultivation of meditative absorption. So
therefore,
we are practicing the Medicine Buddha in order to attain states of
mental
and physical health or balance, not merely for our own benefit, but for
the benefit of others as well."

* * *

"The primary technique in the meditation consists
of imagining
ourself to be the Medicine Buddha, conceiving of yourself as the
Medicine
Buddha. By replacing the thought of yourself as yourself with the
thought
of yourself as the Medicine Buddha, you gradually counteract and remove
the fixation on your personal self. And as that fixation is removed,
the
power of the seventh consciousness is reduced. And as it is reduced,
the
kleshas or mental afflictions are gradually weakened, which causes you
to experience greater and greater well-being in both body and mind."

* * *

"In most religious traditions, the deities of
that tradition,
when they are related to or imagined, are imagined in front of one.
Then,
visualizingthe deity or deities as being present in front of
one,
one prays to them, and by doing so hopefully one receives their
blessing,
which benefits one in some way. In the vajrayana tradition, however, we
regard the blessing and the power and the qualities of the deities as
being
innate, as being within one’s own mind."

* * *

"It is through regarding oneself as the deity
that defects
are gradually eradicated and qualities gradually revealed. The primary
technique of visualization is to visualize ourselves as the deity,
because
the potential to transcend our problems is innate rather than external
to us."

* * *

"We supplement the visualization of ourselves as
the deity
with visualizations such as imagining the actual wisdom deities
themselves
dissolving into ourselves again and again, by means of which we receive
their blessing. Sometimes we visualize the deity in front of us,
separate
from ourselves, thinking that rays of light from the deity’s heart
engulf
and pervade us, granting the blessing of the deity. And sometimes we
visualize
that rays of light, which embody the blessing of that deity in front of
us, strike all beings, removing their obstacles,increasing their longevity, wisdom, and so on."

* * *

"The practice of the Medicine Buddha comes
primarily from
the uncommon tradition of the vajrayana, which means that the
transmission
of the practice is done using three processes called the empowerment,
which
ripens; the instruction, which frees; and the reading transmission,
which
supports. The function of empowerment, the formal ceremony or ritual of
empowerment, is to introduce you to the practice and to the process of
visualization and so forth, which will make up the practice. The
function
of the instruction, which frees, is to give you complete access to the
practice by means of telling you literally how to do it— what you do
with
your body, what you say with your speech, and what you think with your
mind. The function of the reading transmission, which supports, is to
transmit
the blessing of the lineage of the practice which serves to consecrate
or bless your practice in the form of sound. Because the lineage has
been
transmitted as the sound of the words of its transmission, when the
reading
transmission is given to you, you simply listen to the sound and think
that by doing so you receive the blessing of the lineage."

* * *

"With regard to the empowerment, you should
understand that
the Medicine Buddha practice is not solely a vajrayana practice. Likethe practice of mahamudra, it is a combination of
vajrayana
[tantra] and sutra. For example, while we could say that mahamudra is
primarily
taught in the vajrayana, it is also found in certain sutras, such as
the
Samadhiraja Sutra, and so forth. In the same way, this practice of the
Medicine Buddha is a combination of what the Buddha taught about the
Medicine
Buddha in the sutras of the Medicine Buddha and in various tantras.
Because
it is connected with vajrayana, it is most appropriate to receive the
empowerment
to enhance the practice; but because it is also connected with the
sutras,
it is acceptable to do the practice without the empowerment aswell."The Reading Transmission

Thrangu Rinpoche then gave the reading
transmission, or
lung,
for this Medicine Buddha practice, going through the text and
explaining
for each of the various sections what it's purpose is, what the
practitioner
should actually be doing at that point in the liturgy, and what the
various
symbols and symbolic actions mean.

The liturgy begins with a supplication of the
Medicine
Buddha and his retinue, including the holders of the lineage of this
teaching,
in order to invite the awareness of and to receive the blessings of the
deity and the lineage.

The invocation of the principle Medicine
Buddha begins
with these lines:

You are endowed with an oceanic treasury of
qualities
and merit;By the blessing of your inconceivable
compassionYou calm the suffering and torment of sentient
beings.I supplicate you, Light of Lapis Lazuli.

Before Rinpoche's reading of, and commentary
on, the Sadhana,
each participant was given a card with an image of the Medicine Buddha.
(The image at the top of this page is a different image of the Medicine
Buddha.)

The section of the liturgy on the details of
the visualization
sketches out the main features of the image of the Medicine Buddha, and
Thrangu Rinpoche explains the meaning of each of the important symbols.
For example, the description and commentary on the arms and hands
points
out how they symbolize the Medicine Buddha's mastery of both
physical
and spiritual aspects of healing:

"The Medicine Buddha has two arms.

His right hand in the mudra of supreme
generosity holds
an arura. His left hand in meditation mudra holds a begging bowl.

His right hand is extended, palm outward, over
his right
knee in the gesture called supreme generosity. In it he holds the
arura,
or myrobalan, fruit. This plant represents all the best medicines. The
position of his right hand and the arura which he holds represent the
eradication
of suffering, especially the suffering of sickness, using the means of
relative truth. Sickness can be alleviated by adjusting the functioning
of interdependent causes and conditions by the use of relative means
within
the realm of relative truth, such as medical treatment and so on. The
giving
of these methods is represented by the gesture of the Medicine Buddha’s
right hand.

His left hand rests in his lap, palm upward,
in the gesture
of meditative stability or meditation, which represents the eradication
of sickness and suffering— and, indeed, the very roots of samsara—
through
the realization of absolute truth. From the point of view of either
relative
truth or absolute truth, the fundamental cause of sickness and
suffering
is a lack of contentment and the addictive quality of samsara.
Therefore,
to indicate the need for contentment, in his left hand he holds a
begging
bowl."

Rinpoche points out that the visualization is
much more
than merely wishful fantasy:

"More important than how many deities you
visualize is
to understand what you are doing. And most important is to understand
that
by visualizing yourself as the Medicine Buddha you are not pretending
to
be something that you are not, and that by visualizing the Medicine
Buddha
and his retinue in front of you, you are not pretending that they are
in
a place where they are not. By definition, buddhas are omniscient.
Whenever
someone thinks of them, brings them to mind, or supplicates them, they
are aware of it and respond with their compassion and blessing. In the
final analysis, the situation is identical to their actually being
present
anywhere they are thought of. Therefor,it is always appropriate to regard a buddha that
is present
in one’s mind as actually being present in front of one. When you think
that the Medicine Buddha, together with his retinue, is present in
front
of you, it is really true that they are.

Visualizing yourself as the Medicine Buddha is
also appropriate,
because your fundamental nature— what you truly are— is buddha nature.
Buddha nature is essentially the potential to attain awakening. At some
point in the future you will attain the same awakening or buddhahood as
the Medicine Buddha himself. By visualizing yourself as the Medicine
Buddha,
you are assuming the appearance of what fundamentally you are even now
and what manifestly you will be upon your awakening. It is to
acknowledge
this truth that you assume the aspect of the body, speech, and mind of
the Medicine Buddha, which is, therefore, entirely appropriate."

"If you can visualize clearly, it is best to
do all of
this very slowly and gradually. While you continue to say the mantra,
you
think that rays of light emerge from the self-visualization, go to the
front visualization, and then from the front visualization outwards to
the pure realms, proceeding gradually and slowly. Especially when the
blessings
of body, speech, and mind rain down upon and dissolve into you, you can
do the visualizations in sequence: first, visualizing the blessings of
body raining down, without being in any kind of a hurry and so quite
distinctly;
and then visualizing the blessings of speech and then the blessings of
mind. If you find that the visualization is extremely unclear, if you
wish,
you can do it all at once. But if you do it gradually and slowly, you
will
find that you will get a much stronger sense of the blessings actually
entering into you. By taking your time with the visualization, you will
develop real confidence, a real feeling of the blessings entering into
you."

Rinpoche describes a special type of
visualization when
the main point is the actual alleviation of sickness:

"You can visualize yourself as the Medicine
Buddha, if
you wish, but the main focus is to actually visualize a small form of
the
Medicine Buddha, no larger than four finger-widths in height, in the
actual
part of your body that is afflicted. So if it is an illness or pain in
the head, visualize a small Medicine Buddha in he head; .... Visualize
the Medicine Buddha in that place, and think that from this small but
vivid
form of the Medicine Buddha rays of light are emitted. These rays of
light
are not simply light, which is dry, but liquid light having a quality
of
ambrosia. This luminous ambrosia or liquid light actually cleanses and
removes the sickness and pain— whatever it is. You can do this not only
for yourself, by visualizing the Medicine Buddha in the appropriate
part
of your own body, but you can do it for others as well by visualizing
the
Medicine Buddha in the appropriate part of their body or bodies. The
radiation
of rays of light of ambrosia and soon is the same.

This can be applied not only to physical
sickness but
to mental problems as well. If you want to get rid of a particular type
of anxiety or stress or depression or fear or any other kind of
unpleasant
mental experience, you can visualize the Medicine Buddha seated above
the
top of your head and think in the same way as before that luminous
ambrosia
or liquid light emerges from his body, filling your body and cleansing
you of any problem, whatever it is.

You might think that all of this sounds a bit
childish,
but in fact it actually works, and you will find that out if you try
it."

"Shenpen
Ösel is a tri-annual publication of Kagyu Shenpen
Ösel
Chöling, a center for the study and practice of Tibetan vajrayana
Buddhism located in Seattle, Washington. The magazine seeks to present
the teachings of recognized and fully qualified lamas and teachers,
with
an emphasis on the Karma Kagyu and the Shangpa Kagyu lineages." The
publication
is edited by Lama Tashi Namgyal.

The magazine is available in print and online
editions. The online versions are free of charge.

Thrangu Rinpoche's teachings on the the Medicine
Buddha Sadhana were published in the
June,
2000, issue (Volume 4, Number 1).

The second part of the series -- on the Medicine
Buddha Sutra -- were published in the
September,
2000, issue (Volume 4, Number 2).

The free Online
Edition of
the magazine is not a Web page -- it requires the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader (a 2 mb download). The June, 2000, issue of Shenpen
Ösel, containing Thrangu Rinpoche's teachings on the
Medicine
Buddha Sadhana, is about 1600 kilobytes. You have to download all of it
before you can see any of it.